On Holy Saturday · §3 · Amphilochius of Iconium

The absurdity of guarding a corpse

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The preacher continues his direct challenge to the Jew, pressing the paradox that the precautions taken at the tomb betray a fear that Jesus was no mere man.

Or rather, who has ever seen a corpse being warred against? Who has heard of an end being disputed, striking fear into those who accomplished it? Who has not taken his enemy's soul? Who has not ended the hatred, satisfied with the death of the hostile one? Why do you fear the one you have destroyed, O Jew? Why are you afraid of the one you killed? Why do you tremble at the one who has departed? Why do you dread the one you put to death? Why are you in anguish over the one you crucified? You have security from the slaughter. Take courage: if the dead man is a mere man, he does not rise. If he is a mere man, you did well to set up the cross. If he is a mere man, he does not speak truly when he says, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it" (John 2:19). If he is a mere man, he is held by death. If he is a mere man, why do you seal the tomb, you fool? Wait for the third day and you will see the proof of your own madness. Cease your meddling and you will behold the outcome of events. Cease redeeming according to the truth. Cease warring against God and wounding yourself by the war. Cease insulting the sun of righteousness and thinking you can quench those rays. Cease striving to dam up the spring of life. Cease troubling the rulers and discussing the guard. Cease buying falsehood and stirring up the soldiers.

Greek

Μᾶλλον δὲ τίς εἶδε

νεκρὸν πολεμούμενον; Τίς ἤκουσε τελευτὴν ἀμφιβαλλομένην καὶ δέος ἐμποιοῦσαν τοῖς ἐργασαμένοις; Τίς οὐκ ἐπαύσατο πρὸς ἐχθρὸν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀφειλάμενος; Τίς οὐ κατέλυσεν ἔχθραν ἀρκεσθεὶς θανάτῳ τοῦ δυσμενοῦς; Τί ὃν ἀνήλωσας δειλιᾷς, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε; Τί φοβῇ ὃν ἀπέκτεινας; Τί τρέμεις τὸν μεταστάντα; Τί δέδοικας τὸν ἀναιρεθέντα; Τί ὃν ἐσταύρωσας ἀγωνιᾷς; Ἔχεις ἀπὸ τῆς σφαγῆς τὴν ἀσφάλειαν. Θάρρει· εἰ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος ὁ τεθνηκώς, οὐκ ἀνίσταται· εἰ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, καλῶς 1 ἔπηξας τὸν σταυρόν· εἰ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, οὐκ ἀληθεύει Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον εἰπὼν καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν· εἰ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, τῷ θανάτῳ κατέχεται· εἰ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, τί τὸν τάφον σφραγίζεις, ἀνόητε; Περίμεινον τὴν τρίτην ἡμέραν καὶ ὄψῃ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ μανίας τὸν ἔλεγχον. Παῦσαι περιεργαζόμενος καὶ θεάσῃ τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἔκβασιν· παῦσαι λυττῶν κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας· παῦσαι θεῷ πολεμῶν καὶ τῷ πολεμεῖν κατατιτρώσκων ἑαυτόν· παῦσαι τὸν ἥλιον τῆς δικαιοσύνης ὑβρίζων καὶ νομίζων τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἐκείνας σβεννύειν· παῦσαι τὴν πηγὴν τῆς ζωῆς προσχῶσαι φιλονεικῶν· παῦσαι τοῖς ἄρχουσι ἐνοχλῶν καὶ περὶ φρουρᾶς διαλεγόμενος· παῦσαι τὸ ψεῦδος ὠνούμενος καὶ τοὺς ὁπλίτας κινῶν.

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About this text

Holy Saturday: Christ lies in the tomb while his soul frees the dead. Amphilochius preaches the quiet triumph.

Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340–c. 395) was a fourth-century bishop in central Asia Minor, a friend of Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus, and a participant in the First Council of Constantinople in 381. He wrote this homily for the Christians of his diocese, to be delivered during the Holy Saturday liturgy, the day when the church commemorates the burial of Christ and waits for his resurrection. His purpose was to turn the congregation from grief at the tomb toward confidence in the victory hidden within it, and to answer the mockery of both Jews and pagans who saw the crucifixion as proof that the Christian hope was dead.

The sermon was preached on the Great and Holy Saturday of the Paschal week, the day between Good Friday and Easter. Amphilochius addresses a congregation assembled for the burial feast of the Savior, and he speaks directly to two groups of opponents: Jews, who sealed the tomb and set guards over it, and Greeks, pagans who mock the Christian hope and have shut up their own hopes in tombs. He quotes the prophet David, Christ on the cross, and Christ's own words about the temple, and he argues against the Jewish precautions at the tomb, saying that the very act of sealing and guarding it shows they feared Jesus was no mere man.

A reader should know that the homily uses Hades for the realm of the dead, which Christ enters to despoil and fill with light, and that death and life are spoken of as persons, with death swallowing life but unable to hold it. The author quotes the Psalms according to the Septuagint numbering, so Psalm 15 in the sermon is Psalm 16 in modern English Bibles, and Psalm 48 is Psalm 49. He also quotes Isaiah, the Gospel of John, and Luke, and he alludes to the raising of Lazarus as proof of Christ's power over death. The sermon ends by inviting the congregation to join Mary and her companions at the tomb in faith and to make their words their own.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 39 (Greek)

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